1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a transaction proxy, for instance, in a telecommunications and or messaging system, and methods of operating such a transaction proxy.
2. Background Art
Electronic messaging using the short message service (SMS) that is available in GSM networks is being used increasingly to send mobile phone users unsolicited messages known as “spam”. This can become an annoyance to users who often blame the operator. In several countries, SMS spam is already a major subject of customer complaints.
One fraud scenario that has been identified, for instance in a document referenced S3-040581 and made public by the 3GPP, consists in a party sending many MAP forward ShortMessages (mt-forwardSM) with the source SMSC address spoofed. The recipient MSC acknowledges the message delivery to the SMSC, and in addition charging information is produced which among other relevant information, captures the SMSC address from which the short message was received. The consequence is a misalignment of the accounting mechanism between the originating network and terminating network. The termination network will request more money from the originating network than justified, resulting in inaccurate interoperator accounting as well as annoyance for the recipients of the messages.